MSI K8mm3v Manual

							MSI Feature
4-18MS-7181 Micro-ATX Mainboard
Power Off / Restart
You may configure the time (in the format hh:mm:ss) for the next power-off / restart.
Start With
Use the button “+Add” to add the start-up programs
as DigiCell is activated next time. For example, you
may like to have Outlook activated or a specified
website linked when you get to the office every
morning.
Step 1:Click on the Program: field and click “>>”
button to browse for the path of Outlook or
Internet Explorer.
Step 2:Click on “OK” to apply the setting.
Step 3:For specified file or specified website, you
may enter the file name with the complete
path or the website link in the Parameters: field.
Of course you may use the button “-Delete” to remove the added programs, or you
can right-click on the selected program and click Delete.add the desired start-
with programTo activate Outlook as DigiCell
is enabled next timeTo activate a specified website
as DigiCell is enabled next timedelete the added programMSI Reminds You...
You can also enable the Every turn on function, which will enable the
specified program(s) and file(s) every time the Digi Cell utility runs. 
						

							Introduction to DigiCell4-19Auto Login
Since the Power On function allows the system to power on automatically, you may
have to enable this Auto Login function in the following situations:
1.If you are using a computer belonging to a domain in office, and you need to
enter your user name & password everytime when you boot up your computer.
2.If there are multi users using the same computer and you’d like to power on the
computer automatically with one specific user.
Enable Auto Login
Enable this setting if you want to use the Auto Login feature. It supports the
following operating systems: Win9X, Windows ME, Windows 2000 & Windows XP.
Default User Name
It is only available for Windows 2000 & Windows XP.
--If you are using a computer belonging to a domain in office, please enter your
login user name in this field.
--If you are using a computer with multi users (for Windows XP operating system),
please enter the user name you’d like to auto power-on in this field.
Default Password
It is only available for Windows 2000 & Windows XP.
--If you are using a computer belonging to a domain in office, please enter your
login password in this field.
--If you are using a computer with multi-users (for Windows XP operating system),
please enter the password for the user name you’d like to auto power-on in
this field. 
						

							VIA VT8237R/Plus Serial ATA RAID Introduction5-1 Appendix. Using 4- or 6-Channel
Audio FunctionThe Southbridge VT8237R/ VT8237R Plus provides a hybrid solution that combines
two independent SATA ports for support of up to two Serial ATA (Serial ATA RAID)
drives.
Serial ATA (SATA) is the latest generation of the ATA interface. SATA hard drives
deliver blistering transfer speeds of up to 150MB/sec. Serial ATA uses long, thin
cables, making it easier to connect your drive and improving the airflow inside
your PC.
The key features of VT8237R/ VT8237R Plus SATA RAID are:
1.Support two SATA + two PATA hard disk drives.
2.Only SATA supports RAID.
3.Supports ATA 133 high performance hard disk drive.
4.Dual independent ATA channels and maximum connection of four
hard disk  drives allowed.
5.Supports Ultra DMA mode 6/5/4/3/2/1/0, DMA mode 2/1/0, and PIO
mode 4/3/2/1/0.
6.Supports RAID 0 and RAID 1.
7.4 KB to 64 KB striping block size support.
8.Bootable disk or disk array support.
9.Windows-based RAID configure and management software tool.
(Compatible with BIOS)
10.Supports hot-swap failed disk drive in RAID 1 array.
11.ATA SMART function support.
12.Microsoft Windows 98, Me, NT4.0, 2000, XP operating systems
support.
13.Event log for easy troubleshooting. Appendix. Using 4- or 6-Channel
Audio Function
VIA VT8237R/ VT8237R Plus
SATA RAID Introduction Chapter 4. Introduction to
DigiCell Chapter 2. Hardware Setup 
						

							5-2MS-7181 Micro-ATX Mainboard
This section gives a brief introduction on the RAID-related background knowledge
and a brief introduction on VIA SATA RAID Host Controller. For users wishing to install
their VIA SATA RAID driver and RAID software, proceed to Driver and RAID Soft-
ware Installation section.
RAID Basics
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a method of combining two or more
hard disk drives into one logical unit. The advantage of an Array is to provide better
performance or data fault tolerance. Fault tolerance is achieved through data redun-
dant operation, where if one drives fails, a mirrored copy of the data can be found on
another drive. This can prevent data loss if the operating system fails or hangs. The
individual disk drives in an array are called “members”. The configuration information
of each member is recorded in the “reserved sector” that identifies the drive as a
member. All disk members in a formed disk array are recognized as a single physical
drive to the operating system.
Hard disk drives can be combined together through a few different methods. The
different methods are referred to as different RAID levels. Different RAID levels
represent different performance levels, security levels and implementation costs.
The RAID levels which the VIA VT8237R/Plus SATA RAID Host Controller supports
are RAID 0 and RAID 1. The table below  briefly introduced these RAID levels.Introduction
RAID Level No. of Drives Capacity Benefits RAID 0 
(Striping) 2  Number drives * 2 Highest performance without data 
protection RAID 1 
(Mirroring) 2 Smallest size Data protection RAID 0 (Striping)
RAID 0 reads and writes sectors of data interleaved between multiple drives. If any
disk member fails, it affects the entire array. The disk array data capacity is equal to
the number of drive members times the capacity of the smallest member. The striping
block size can be set from 4KB to 64KB. RAID 0 does not support fault tolerance.
RAID 1 (Mirroring)
RAID 1 writes duplicate data onto a pair of drives and reads both sets of data in
parallel. If one of the mirrored drives suffers a mechanical failure or does not respond,
the remaining drive will continue to function. Due to redundancy, the drive capacity of
the array is the capacity of the smallest drive. Under a RAID 1 setup, an extra drive
called the spare drive. can be attached. Such a drive will be activated to replace a
failed drive that is part of a mirrored array. Due to the fault tolerance, if any RAID 1
drive fails, data access will not be affected as long as there are other working drives
in the array. 
						

							VIA VT8237R/Plus Serial ATA RAID Introduction5-3BIOS Configuration
When the system powers on during the POST (Power-On Self Test) process, press
 key to enter the BIOS configuration.
The Serial ATA RAID volume may be configured using the VIA Tech. RAID BIOS.
Always use the arrow keys to navigate the main menu, use up and down arrow key
to select the each item and press  to call out the list of creation steps. The
main screen of BIOS configuration utility is as below: 
						

							5-4MS-7181 Micro-ATX Mainboard
Create Disk Array
Use the up and down arrow keys to select the Create Array command and press
.
Select Array Mode and press , a list of array modes will appear. Highlight
the target array mode that you want to create, and press  to confirm the
selection. If RAID 1 is selected, an option list will popup and enable the users to select
Create only or Create and duplicate. Create only will allow BIOS to only create
an array. The data on the mirroring drive may be different from the source drive.
Create and duplicate lets BIOS copy the data from the source to the mirroring
drive.MSI Reminds You...
The “Channel”, “Drive  Name”, “Mode” and “Size (GB)” in the following
example might be different from your system. 
						

							VIA VT8237R/Plus Serial ATA RAID Introduction5-5 If user selects a RAID 0 array in step 2, the block size of the array can also be
selected. Use the arrow key to highlight Block Size and press , then select
a block size from the popup menu. The block size can be 4KB to 64KB. After array mode is selected, there are two methods to create a disk array. One
method is “Auto Setup” and the other one is “Select Disk Drives”. Auto Setup
allows BIOS to select the disk drives and create arrays automatically, but it does not
duplicate the mirroring drives even if the user selected Create and duplicate for
RAID 1. It is recommended all disk drives are new ones when wanting to create an
array. Select Disk Drives lets the user select the array drives by their requirements.
When using  Select Disk Drives, the channel column will be activated. Highlight the
target drives that you want to use and press  to select them. After all drives
have been selected, press  to go back to the creation steps menu. 
						

							5-6MS-7181 Micro-ATX Mainboard
Delete Disk Array
A RAID can be deleted after it has been created. To delete a RAID, use the following
steps:
1. Select Delete Array in the main menu and press . The channel column will
    be activated.
2. Select the member of an array that is to be deleted and press . A warning
    message will show up, press Y to delete or press N to cancel.
Deleting a disk array will destroy all the data on the disk array except RAID 1 arrays.
When a RAID is deleted, the data on these two hard disk drives will be reserved and
become two normal disk drives.Use the arrow key to highlight Start Create Process and press .  A warning
message will appear, Press Y to finish the creation, or press N to cancel the creation.
Important note: All existing content in the hard drive will be destroyed after array
creation.MSI Reminds You...
Even though 64KB is the recommended setting for most users, you
should choose the block size value which is best suited to your specific
RAID usage model.
4KB: For specialized usage models requiring 4KB blocks
8KB: For specialized usage models requiring 8KB blocks
16KB: Best for sequential transfers
32KB: Good for sequential transfers
64KB: Optimal setting 
						

							VIA VT8237R/Plus Serial ATA RAID Introduction5-7 Create and Delete Spare Hard Drive
If a RAID 1 array is created and there are drives that do not belong to other arrays,
the one that has a capacity which is equal to or greater than the array capacity can
be selected as a spare drive for the RAID 1 array. Select Create/Delete Spare and
press , the channel column will then be activated. Select the drive that you
want to use as a spare drive and press , the selected drive will be marked as
Spare. The spare drive cannot be accessed in an OS.
To delete a spare drive, highlight Create/Delete Spare and press . The
spare drive will be highlighted, press  to delete the spare drive.View Serial Number of Hard Drive
Highlight Serial Number View and press . Use arrow key to select a drive,
the selected drive’s serial number can be viewed in the last column. The serial
number is assigned by the disk drive manufacturer.
Press the F1 key to show the array status on the lower screen. If there are no disk
arrays then nothing will be displayed on the screen. 
						

							5-8MS-7181 Micro-ATX Mainboard
Rebuild Broken RAID 1 Array
When booting up the system, BIOS will detect if any member disk drives of RAID has
failed or is absent. If BIOS detects any disk drive failures or missing disk drives, the
status of the array will be marked as broken.
If BIOS detects a broken RAID 1 array but there is a spare hard drive available for
rebuilding the broken array, the spare hard drive will automatically become the mirror-
ing drive. BIOS will show a main interface just like a duplicated RAID 1. Selecting
Continue to boot enables the user to duplicate the array after booting into operat-
ing system.
If BIOS detects a broken RAID 1 array but there is  no  spare  hard  drive available for
rebuilding the array, BIOS will provide several operations to solve such problem.Duplicate Critical RAID 1 Array
When booting up the system, BIOS will detect if the RAID 1 array has any inconsis-
tencies between user data and backup data. If BIOS detects any inconsistencies, the
status of the disk array will be marked as critical, and BIOS will prompt the user to
duplicate the RAID 1 in order to ensure the backup data consistency with the user
data.
If user selects Continue to boot, it will enable duplicating the array after booting
into OS.